Covid-19 outbreak: States asked to transfer funds to construction workers' accounts

NEW DELHI: The Centre has advised state authorities to transfer funds directly to the bank accounts of construction workers to help them amid the lockdown due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

“In the backdrop of such a challenging situation, it is imperative that we devise probable mechanisms to support our unorganised workers who sustain their livelihood on daily wages,” Santosh Kumar Gangwar, MoS for labour and employment, noted in the advisory.

Under the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996, the Central government can advise the states and Union Territories to frame a scheme for transfer of adequate funds in the bank accounts of construction workers through the direct benefit transfer mode, Gangwar said.


An amount of about Rs 52,000 crore is available as cess fund, while about 35 million workers are registered with construction welfare boards. The amount to be granted to the workers will be decided by the respective state and Union Territory governments.

“Financial assistance at this point of time would help to mitigate the financial crisis of our construction workers to some extent and boost their morale to deal with this epidemic,” Gangwar said.